St. Cloud Diocesan Council of Catholic Women at 25008 Mary St., Paynesville, MN 56362 US - COMMUNITY CONCERNS
| COMMUNITY CONCERNS |
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| Support One Another |
By: Bonnie Clasemann
At Province Conference in June, Kathy Langer shared “What Poverty Looks like” through her pictures and presentation. I will share some of what she presented to us. Her pictures depicted the very young, the young, middle aged and the old who live in poverty.
The Gospel calls us to make a difference. In scripture: Exodus 22: 21-22 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner; remember that you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not mistreat any widow or orphan”. Exodus: 22:25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and require him to pay interest.” Job 34:19 “He (God) does not take the side of the rulers nor favor the rich over the poor, for he created everyone.” Isaiah 58:6-7 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your doors to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.”
Jesus proclaims his mission to bring good news to the poor and oppressed: Luke 4:17-19; “He (Jesus) unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring the good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”
Then in I John 3:17-18 we hear: “If a rich person sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against his brother, how can he claim that he loves God? My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” So to make a difference we need to put God’s words into action.
Pope Benedict XVII in his “Charity and Truth” states that if we love others with charity then
first of all we are just towards them. Not only is charity and justice extraneous but also charity; and justice need to go together.
How do we act with charity and justice? Through direct services such as; helping meet/ present needs; serve in soup kitchens/food shelves; donate food, money to the needy; visit someone sick, lonely, imprisoned. Some social justice areas may be helping correct long-term problems-create self- help projects; advocate for just public policies-maybe through prayer, conversation, and /or action; develop local community enterprises.
In Minnesota 10% of our people are poor (approx 480,000). Most are white and live in rural MN. The largest numbers are children. Most people in poverty want a ladder up, they don’t want to be stuck getting handouts. We need to look at people’s potential, not their deficits. Take a look where you are. How can you reach out to your community and country to those who live in poverty? Ask yourself “How will I live the gospel?”
THE TASK AHEAD OF US IS NEVER AS GREAT AS THE POWER BEHIND US.
God be with each of you on your journey.
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